I just picked up another book on impulse (oops) but it looks cool. It's called "Kanji Look and Learn" by The Japan Times. It teaches 512 Kanji using simple pictures and a mnemonic sentence in English AND Japanese.

I don't have the workbook yet but I'm planning to buy it. But I have a question: does the Kanji Look and Learn Workbook have answers in the back?

Just a note: that should be こんにちは. It's very easy to miss the ん, especially since if you type "konnichiha" into the IME, you will get こにちは. (At least, that's what happens with my IME.) For that reason I usually force myself to type n' -- with the apostrophe -- when I want an ん.

On the Windows IME, "nn" converts to ん, so "konnichiha" would get you "ko-nn-i-chi-ha" こんいちは. The only way to end up with こにちは there is to type "konichiha". I echo the question of "what system are you using" to end up with こにちは from "konnichiha", furrykef ._.
Assuming you haven't got something wrong, I guess your IME must not convert nn to ん?
(and even then it's surprising that it completely ignores/discards the extra "n", such that nni=に, rather than nni=ｎに or んに or something...)

if you type "konnichiha" into the IME, you will get こにちは. (At least, that's what happens with my IME.)

Really? I have to type "konn" (then it changes to ん) + "nichiha" to get こんにちは.

Sorry, you're right. I wasn't thinking while I wrote my post. Yes, if you write "konnichiha", you will actually get こんいちは, not こにちは. In any case, it's a tricky word to spell correctly in the IME, so I'm not too surprised when people get it wrong. ;

My point is that since (with every IME I've heard of) you can only get こにちは by typing "konichiha" (one n), it indicates the problem is probably with the user not knowing how "konnichi wa" is spelt/pronounced, rather than a problem with using the IME. ;

こにちは = learn how to spell it (こんにちは)
こんいちは = learn how to use your IME

(I've seen the IME thing brought up in response to こにちは before, so I thought I'd point it out this time.)

Just a note: that should be こんにちは. It's very easy to miss the ん, especially since if you type "konnichiha" into the IME, you will get こにちは. (At least, that's what happens with my IME.) For that reason I usually force myself to type n' -- with the apostrophe -- when I want an ん.

- Kef

Furrykef,

Thanks for the tip! (And here I thought I was doing well with the は vs わ! )

I use NJStar - and, HMM, oddly enough, now that I'm checking myself in NJStar, it's coming out "こんにちは". I'm guessing I made a typo yesterday and left out an "n". Maybe I should have just used "今日は".

Which spellings, the kanji version or the kana-only version, is more common among Japanese-speakers? Or are they used equally?

Hmm, just checked Google: 104 million hits for こんにちは, and 79 million for 今日は. for what it's worth.....

To conclude, I placed my order and it's shipped - looking forward to its arrival! My thanks to Clay and everyone who clarified my "konniciwa"! (I'd type in kana, but I'm on my Palm phone - for which I'm still searching for some sort of Japanese IME capability! But that's another post....